Police, Military High Commands vow to punish personnel in Tamale brawl

The police and military high commands have condemned the act of violence and lawlessness by their men in Tamale, Wednesday.

In a joint statement issued and signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police David Eklu and Director, Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, Colonel Aggrey Quarshie, the high commands say they will not countenance such acts of lawlessness by the men in uniform.

Consequently, they have resolved to investigate the current incident and take punitive measures against security personnel who take the law into their own hands.

The joint statement follows clashes between the police and military personnel in Tamale on Wednesday.

On a day that marked the beginning of Ramadan with security and religious heads preaching peace in Tamale, dozens of prowling security personnel from the police and military, turned the Tamale metropolis into a battlefield, firing, whipping and pummeling each other in the full glare of civilians.

The military men did not understand why one of their men will be arrested by the police and be interrogated over an alleged act of assault.

The arrested officer jumped out of counter at the police station, went into the military barracks and within minutes, an army of military men with weapons, guns, whips were back into town with revenge on their minds.

The military men were said to have driven in military patrol vehicles whose numbers had been covered to avoid being traced.

There was “indiscriminate firing” from both sides in the middle of the streets, the Regional Minister confirmed.

It was not only an exchange of gunfire. They traded blows, whips and left scores injured with the police worst affected.

At least seven personnel suffered varying degrees of injuries. A police officer suffered severe head injuries with his blue uniform draped in blood.

The incident left the policemen angry with threats of reprisals.

The incident has been roundly condemned by the Northern Regional Minister, the Deputy Defence Minister.

The ministers in charge of security have since gone to Tamale to begin investigations into the matter with a promise to take punitive action against the personnel found culpable.

The top police and military hierarchy have also intervened.

As part of measures to ensure better collaboration between the security agencies, the two high commands have resolved to set up joint committees in the regions to foster closer ties.

A team of senior police and military personnel have also been dispatched to Tamale to hold a joint durbar between the two forces to bring lasting solutions to violence in the region.